Megan Draper Jessica Paré Skinny Dips In Beautiful New Esquire Shoot

Mad Men‘s Jessica Paré is the subject of a profile in the April issue of Esquire, and ended up naked or in underwear for most of the gorgeous shoot. While I understand that the nudity is mostly supposed to be titillating, I just find the shots beautiful, especially since Paré is smiling in almost every one.

That smile, by the way, is the subject of a 213-word introduction (the whole article is less than 700 words in total) based entirely around Paré’s teeth, which are only remarkable in that they’re slightly imperfect. While that seemed like a somewhat bizarre use of column inches, I suppose they have taken on a bit of cult status of their own, and people really can’t seem to get over the idea that a woman would choose to keep a body part natural instead of spending money to fix it. In the discussion of how beautiful Paré is, no one can reconcile the idea that her teeth have gaps yet they don’t diminish how stunning she is. Paré is not beautiful despite her teeth–she has imperfect teeth and also she is beautiful. Beauty and imperfection are hardly mutually exclusive.

When Paré isn’t skinny dipping naked, she’s in pale pink lingerie or a retro swimsuit. There’s only one photo with an affected facial expression, and not a coy, hidden smile to be seen. It’s mostly full grins radiating energy, and I love that they chose to show a bit of personality and not just some hot naked chick, as is the norm with men’s mags like Esquire.